


Underneath the Tree

by GatorJen



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies)
Genre: A bit of hand waving on their use, Alternate Universe, F/M, Mentions of Infinity Stones, Steggy Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-02
Updated: 2017-01-02
Packaged: 2018-09-14 04:05:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9160588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GatorJen/pseuds/GatorJen
Summary: Thanos has been able to gather all of the infinity stones and assemble the gauntlet.  Steve sees his one opportunity to end the fight, and there's an unexpected, but not unwelcome, side effect to Steve's use of the gauntlet: Peggy Carter.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rachlovesligers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rachlovesligers/gifts).



> I've never read the Infinity Gauntlet comic, but I've shamelessly taken what I know of the plot and how they managed to defeat Thanos and altered it to fit my purposes for this fic. Title and lyrics from the Kelly Clarkson song "Underneath the Tree," which if you haven't listened to, it really is a fantastic new Christmas song. I highly recommend her entire collection, but definitely her Wrapped in Red album at the holidays.
> 
> This is written for [Rachlovesligers](http://archiveofourown.org/users/rachlovesligers/pseuds/rachlovesligers) for the Steggy Secret Santa gift exchange on Tumblr. She was lovely enough to meet me when I was over in London, and I really wanted to give her something she'd love. I hope this fits the bill!

_I was lost before you_  
_Christmas was cold and grey_  
_Another holiday alone to celebrate_  
_But then one day everything changed_  
_You're all I need_  
_Underneath the tree_

They were going to lose.  Every person that had abilities, and plenty of those that didn’t, had come together to try to defeat Thanos.  But he’d been able to assemble all the stones, put together the gauntlet, and Steve had never seen power like it before.  The destruction and carnage surrounding him was unprecedented.  People, _friends_ , were going down all around him, and despite everything they had thrown at Thanos, it was doing nothing to change the tide.

As Steve prepared to make yet another, and quite possibly final, charge, he wondered if it might be possible for him to actually die.  In all the battles he’d fought, Schmidt, the Chitauri, Bucky, he’d never felt as weak and battered as he did now.  He’d keep fighting until the very end, but he couldn’t help but think that maybe if he didn’t make it out of this, Peggy would be waiting for him.

And then the thing he had begun to think would never happen _happened_.  Thanos’s body seemed to just…stop.  Like it wasn’t occupied any longer.  And as Steve looked around he realized he was the closest one to him.  He quickly ran towards Thanos, surprised that nothing stopped him on his way, and reached to grab the gauntlet from his hand.  Still, nothing impeded him and he was able to slip the gauntlet off.

Steve took a moment to look around the battlefield, at the death and chaos strewn across it, and knew the only way to fix it, to make things _right_ , would be to wear the gauntlet himself and use its power.  And as he put the gauntlet on, that was the thought going through his mind.  He just wanted to make everything right again.

Thanos’s body disappeared.  Buildings that were demolished were instantly back to their original form.  The dead began to rise on the battlefield.  And suddenly, there in front of him, young, and beautiful, with lips so red was…

“Peggy?”

* * *

 

_Six Months Later_

It was early afternoon on Christmas Eve when Steve finally opened the door to the apartment.  The mission that Fury had assured him would only take a couple of days had turned into a week, and all Steve wanted to do was eat something, take a shower, and sleep, not necessarily in that order.

As he crossed the threshold into the apartment, he noticed there was a fire burning low in the fireplace next to the Christmas tree, and there, asleep on the couch under a Captain America blanket with an open book laying across her chest, was Peggy.

Every time he looked at her, he still couldn’t quite believe that she was here, and they were together, and it wasn’t all just some elaborate dream.  They still weren’t completely sure on how or why she appeared.  He’d repeated the story ad nauseum that when he put the gauntlet on all he could remember thinking was that he just wanted to make everything right again; all they could think of was that apparently the stones took that to mean a world with Peggy in it. 

They’d asked her a multitude of questions and found that her last memory was that she’d been on a mission to Russia with the Commandos, looking into something called Leviathan.  It had gone wrong almost from the minute they’d entered the facility and as they were trying to escape, she’d been separated from the others, cornered with a gun pointed at her head. 

As she’d waited for the trigger to be pulled, her last thought was that maybe she’d see Steve wherever she was going, and then suddenly, there he was.  His uniform was different than the last time she’d seen him, but she’d know those eyes anywhere.

Once they’d figured out she was Peggy Carter, although one from a slightly different reality, and that there was no way to send her back now that they had scattered the stones, she’d moved in with him almost immediately.  He would love Peggy no matter what reality or time she came from, and it was the same for her.

He hated to wake her up, as she’d really seemed to need the sleep lately, but she’d been very adamant that she wanted to know the minute he got home.

Slowly, quietly, Steve crouched down next to her, gently brushed the hair from her forehead, and softly shook her awake.

“Peggy?  I’m home.”

Peggy opened her eyes with what seemed like immense effort, and groggily said, “Steve?  What time is it?”

“Late afternoon. The mission ran far longer than anticipated, I’m sorry.  I’m just going to go take a quick shower, and then we can worry about dinner.”

“Mmm,” said Peggy as she stretched, “I’ll take care of dinner and after that, I thought we could open one present each, start our own Christmas tradition.”

Steve didn’t ever want to get used to the way his heart skipped a beat when she talked about their future together. 

“That sounds great.  I’ll be out in a jiffy,” he replied as he leaned in for a quick kiss. 

* * *

 

Dinner consisted of copious amounts of takeout (“I know how hungry you are after a mission darling, it’s easier on us both if we leave that amount of food up to those who are professionals.  We both know the only appliance we’re proficient in using is the microwave.”), and then cups of hot chocolate for both of them in front of the fire.

“One gift for each of us to open was your idea, how do you want to do this?” Steve questioned as he looked over the presents wrapped under the tree.

Peggy was quiet for a moment before she replied, “I think it would be best if we chose the gift we wanted the other to open.  I’ll go first, shall I?”

Steve just nodded; he knew which gift he wanted her to open.

She quickly looked at the wrapped gifts before handing him a light one that wasn’t very large.  He carefully shook it, listening at it moved around in the box.

“Oh, just open it will you?” Peggy teased him good naturedly.

“This is one of the best parts of Christmas, trying to guess what the gift is before you open it!” Steve exclaimed.  “You got me underwear didn’t you?  I didn’t think our relationship had devolved to that point of practicality yet, I see was wrong” he teased her right back.

Steve carefully opened the edges of the wrapping paper, enjoying the way Peggy narrowed her eyes at how slowly he was going; he knew when her time came she would rip the paper right off.

Finally, he opened the box to find…a small beanie hat with his shield on it?

“I know you love to buy Captain America stuff on it as a joke for me to wear, but you have to know this is definitely too small for my head.”

“It’s not for you, darling, it’s for the baby.”

Now Steve was definitely confused.  “The baby?  What baby?”

“The one we’ll be having in July.  Do try to keep up Steve,” Peggy said through the smile blooming on her face.

A baby.  They were having a baby?  Steve felt the joy bubbling up inside of him and bursting out with a laugh and a whoop as he scooped Peggy up in a hug and spun her around in their living room.

“We’re really having a baby?  How is this possible?” he asked as he finally set her down.

“Well Steve,” Peggy began, “when a mommy and daddy love each other…”

Steve cut her off with a kiss.

“No I mean…and don’t take this the wrong way, but we’re always…careful.  How did this happen?”

“Well, we’re _almost_ always careful.  Don’t you remember Tony’s party at Halloween and the Asgardian Mead Thor shared with you?  We definitely weren’t careful in the supply closet at the Tower or against the wall in one of the spare rooms.”

“Oh,” Steve replied, “well, you were wearing that red dress that I love so much.”

They were quiet for a minute, just holding each other, before Steve leaned down to press another kiss to her lips.

“I love you so much, Peggy,” he said as he pulled away from the kiss and rested his hand along her stomach.  “I couldn’t ask for a better gift.”

“I love you too, my darling, but I believe it’s my turn now to open my gift.”

Steve laughed as he pulled away and looked for the gift he planned to give her.  “I don’t think I can top what you’ve just given me.  Always showing me up, Carter.”

“Someone’s got to keep you on your toes, Captain.”

He handed her the present, which she promptly tore the paper off of and opened the box to find…another box.  And upon opening that box she found…yet another box.  Steve couldn’t help but laugh at the annoyance creeping its way onto her face.

“Not one to savor the surprise, are you?”

“You know me darling, instant gratification is more my style.”

Finally, she opened the last box to find the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen.  Tears began to fill her eyes as she looked over at Steve, who had gone down on one knee and taken her hand.

“We’ve both lost each other and been given the second chance we thought we’d never have.  I love you, Margaret Carter, and I don’t want to waste another minute wondering what it would be like to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?”

Peggy looked down at the ring again, over at the small hat that the child she was carrying, _their_ child, would one day wear, and down at Steve, who was looking at her with such earnestness and love, it stole her breath.

“Yes, my darling, of course I’ll marry you,” she tremulously replied.

Steve didn’t know where this desire to whoop and spin Peggy in circles was coming from, but she didn’t seem to mind his new found reaction to good news.  He set her down and placed the ring onto her left hand.  He didn’t think he’d ever get the smile to leave his face.  If the one she had on hers was any indication, he thought she felt the same.

All of a sudden, that smile was interrupted by a large yawn Peggy couldn’t contain, and a thought occurred to him.

“Wait a second.  Is this why you’ve been so tired lately?”

“Yes.  It would seem that carrying a child makes you excessively tired and hungry,” Peggy answered.

“Oh, well you’ve never been one to shy away from food…” Steve trailed off as Peggy’s eyes narrowed.

“It would seem that you aren’t interested in the second part of your present,” Peggy said as she began to back away from him.  “It’s in the bedroom in case you were wondering.”

“No! It was a joke!  I’m always interested in presents in the bedroom,” Steve was quick to exclaim and follow.

“Mmm, I don’t know, you’re not really showing the excitement I’m looking for.  Have you been a good boy this year, Steven?”

Steve narrowed his eyes at her.  Peggy only grinned in return.

“I’ve been a very good boy this year.  If excitement is what you’re looking for, I’ll show you excitement,” Steve replied as he stepped forward and picked Peggy up over his shoulder as he marched into their bedroom. 

The peal of laughter that came from her filled Steve’s heart to bursting.  He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve the bounty of gifts he’d received this year, but, he thought as he closed the door behind them, he’d never take them for granted.

 _I_ _found, what I was looking for_  
_A love that's meant for me_  
_A heart that's mine completely_  
_Knocked me right off my feet_  
_And this year I will fall_  
_With no worries at all_  
_'Cause you are near and everything's clear_  
_You're all I need_  
_Underneath the tree_


End file.
